Shloka 323

कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line

Devanagari script

योक्‍त्राणि चक्रुर्वाहानां रोहकांस्तत्र कण्टकान्‌ । इन्द्र

Transliteration

yoktrāṇi cakrur vāhānāṁ rohakāṁs tatra kaṇṭakān

Translation

Duryodhana berkata: “Mereka membuat abah-abah bagi kuda-kuda, dan di situ juga mereka membuat cucuk/pacu serta tali kekang.”

Word by Word

• योक्‍त्राणि: yokes
• योक्‍त्राणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योक्‍त्र (युज्-धातुजन्य प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• चक्रुः: they made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• वाहानाम्: of the steeds/vehicles (horses)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाह (वह्-धातुजन्य प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• रोहकान्: mounting-straps / reins (lit. climbers; here harness-parts)
• रोहकान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रोहक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• कण्टकान्: spikes/hooks
• कण्टकान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कण्टक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Indra
• Varuṇa
• Yama
• Kubera
• Sinīvālī
• Anumati
• Kuhū
• Rākā
• chariot
• horses/steeds
• harnesses
• reins
• goads/spikes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage uses divine-chariot imagery to highlight how control, power, and momentum in war can be mythologized. Ethically, it cautions that interpreting extraordinary power as divine sanction can feed arrogance and weaken self-restraint—precisely the inner discipline (dharma) needed amid violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana describes (or alludes to) the outfitting of a chariot’s horse-gear—harnesses, reins, and sharp driving implements—while the broader context poetically personifies cosmic deities as components of the chariot team, presenting the war-machine as backed by supernatural forces.